Playing with Fire: Why food and Nutrition are such Volatile subjects.

WARNING! Discussion of Food & Nutrition Ahead! DANGER!

Food: one of the most volatile, emotionally-charged, divisive, and perilous topics in all of health. The subject of diet and nutrition parts the most friendships, fuels the most flamewars online, angers more in-laws, drives more behavior, and causes more controversy than almost all other subjects of health.

Why? Food weaves into every fabric of our life’s tapestry. Each time we make a food choice, it reveals the many competing narratives within our lives, altering our behavior around food. Each food narrative listed below includes examples of behavioral changes as well as common thoughts associated with each narrative.

The purpose of this article is to gain perspective, not push an agenda. In the 11 narratives (Health, Personal, Social, Cultural, Political, Environmental, Religious, Spiritual, Family, Time, & Financial) below, you’ll notice that multiple opinions, including opposing opinions, are shared. The intention is not to say which one is right or wrong, but to show just how varied and volatile people’s opinions are around food. If we recognize all the different food narratives, there is the possibility of less drama and volatility around food. We can then assess each narrative separately within ourselves and see how true this narrative really is for us instead of acting out of an unconscious old pattern.

Health narrative: How we choose food based on its perceived benefit or harm to our health.

Examples:

A family member panics when someone drinks soda ‘regular’ soda and not ‘diet’ soda.

Another family member panics when someone drinks ‘diet’ soda and not ‘regular’ soda.

Yet another family member panics when someone drinks any type of soda.

Some diets say to fast on water, cayenne, lemon juice, and maple syrup.

Other diets say that same cayenne-lemon-juice-maple-syrup fast is very dangerous and leads to muscle atrophy from lack of protein.

Chinese medicine includes specific meat and animal products to prevent and heal diseases.

A female who was vegan since her teens is now in her early thirties and cannot, despite all efforts, get pregnant. She is torn between her personal beliefs and her Chinese medicine doctor’s advise to eat meat to help her get pregnant.

A father refuses to give his child meat because he is afraid it will harm his consciousness and his karma.

Several high-ranking teachers of a vegetarian spiritual organization confide in me that they have started to eat meat to help their failing health, but are afraid of telling anyone in the organization for fear of being ostracized.

A college friend nearly gets us killed by swerving to avoid a moth that flew into her car’s headlights. She was a staunch spiritual vegetarian, including harming no animals, including oncoming moths.

A man who took too many psychedelics in the sixties only eats fruits and meat because he can, “hear the vegetables scream, man.”

Common thoughts:

“If I eat this, I’ll cause suffering to this animal.”

“If I eat this, I’ll cause suffering in my consciousness for many lifetimes.”

“My spiritual family will excommunicate me if they found out I ate this.”

“I have to choose between my physical health and my spiritual growth.”

Family narrative: How we eat based on how our family eats or raised us to eat.

Note: I went through several diet phases, each one received with different degrees of hesitation, frustration, acceptance, and curiosity at the dinner table with my family.

Examples:

A health enthusiast brings a rice dish to an older relative’s house instead of his favorite quinoa dish because the health enthusiast doesn’t want to explain what quinoa is.

A mother cooks her now-grown-up daughter’s favorite dish of spaghetti she liked as a child.

The same daughter politely eats the spaghetti knowing she will have severe stomach cramps because she’s become gluten intolerant.

A mother spends her time and energy making sure her children have good lunches for school, but she eats candy and junk food for her own lunches.

Common thoughts:

“This is what we eat in this family.”

“Just eat what is served at the family table, stop being so fussy and weird.”

“I just don’t want to go to dinner with my family because their food is gross, overcooked, unhealthy, and bland.”

“My family just doesn’t understand or accept how I eat.”

“I don’t want to invite them over for dinner because I’m sick of getting judgmental glares and comments about how we eat and have always eaten.”

“This is comfort food to me.”

Time narrative: How or what we eat based on our perception of time or the lack of time.

I lived briefly with a raw foodist for a few weeks. She spent several hours a day washing, chopping, dehydrating, shopping, soaking, sprouting, and generally preoccupied with all things food related. I was very frustrated by the amount of time it took.

Seemed like someone had to be independently wealthy, retired, and have no other major obligations to pull this lifestyle off (she was all three).

A relative decides to limit shopping to bulk purchasing to limit the number of trips to the grocery store.

A college friend who wants to be healthier refuses to go to the farmer’s market because ‘it takes too much time’.

A college student spends an evening watching youtube videos and realizes it’s really late and they haven’t eaten. Caught between quick & unhealthy vs. slow & healthy, the college student opts for the quick option.

Common thoughts:

“I don’t have time to…

…source this ingredient or type of food.”

…make separate trips to multiple stores and a farmer’s market.”

…make this.”

…make different things for different people because of their dietary ‘requirements’.”

…eat this.”

…clean up after this.”

Financial narrative: How we our resources determine the quality and kinds of foods we choose.

Examples:

A friend refuses to go to the farmer’s market because ‘it’s too expensive’.

A parent studies the different prices organic versus inorganic vegetables. She feels caught between the health of her family and her family’s future resources.

A health enthusiast buys 50 pounds of organic rice to save two dollars a pound, only to give away half of it after getting sick of rice.

A father declares that filtered water is unnecessary and a luxury, therefore no money will be spent on filtered water.

Two friends smugly agree how much “better” they are because they only eat the most pure, clean, organic food. They look down on others who don’t prioritize their money on real food.

Common thoughts:

“I can’t believe how expensive organic broccoli is.”

“I’m investing in my future.”

“I’m investing in my children.”

“Organic is an expensive fad.”

“Organic is a priceless investment.”

“Buying in bulk will save money.”

“Buying in bulk was a waste of money.”

“It’s cheaper at the big stores.”

“The big stores rip off the farmers.”

Conclusion: Food is not simply food, it’s the center of a psychological spiderweb. Each narrative is sticky and strong on its own. When combined, they weave a wide trap for any piece of food to fall into. Once a piece food vibrates the web, our psychological spiders may crawl out and bite, potentially infusing a situation with venom, or at least irritate.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your health care professional before using this product. Using this site in no way establishes a doctor-patient relationship.